Death’s Heads
Christian Ingrao's analysis of university-educated SS members is dense but compelling, drawing blurred lines that demarcate good and evil
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Hard Lessons of Afghan History
Two new histories of separate conflicts in Afghanistan show that both the Victorians and a young Churchill struggled at the North-Western Frontier
Reform, That You May Preserve
The Great Reform Bill of 1832 nearly sparked a revolution. Antonia Fraser's history tells the story with tremendous verve
When a Marxist Loses His Charm
The uruguayan Eduardo Galeano was once the author of elegant and charming journalism. Sadly, his new book is a dumbed-down travesty
Nourishment by the Gross
Big Brother is Lionel Shriver at her cold-eyed best; a nourishing helping of fearless, humane and sober prose
The Space Behind Them
A contemporary of the British Pop Artists, Patrick Caulfield is at last coming into his own
The King and I
Chess championships in England are often played in dreary municipal halls in grey provincial towns. So I jumped at the chance to compete in 5-star comfort in Thailand
Battling with Britten
The reputation of one of England's finest composers has been indelibly stained by his refusal to fight in the Second World War
Assessing Angela
‘At the election in September, Germans will have to decide whether Angela Merkel’s modesty and prudence are proof enough of her virtue’
Save the NYPD So It Can Save the City
‘Without stop-and-search, Kelly estimates that he would need an extra 50,000 officers to police the city because people who don’t run the risk of being searched start carrying guns’
Hapless Hollande’s French Farce Flops
‘Hollande’s ministers are falling out among themselves and criticism from his left-wing allies is getting ever more strident’